1. “To pause and appear back is a revelation.” See the photographs that our editors chose for The Year in Photos, including the image above, of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar.

“It’s a cliché to remark that the time has moved quickly and gradually all at as soon as,” our writer Amanda Hess says in an accompanying essay. “But a single of the dark powers of our devices is to bend time, to suck us into the screen and spit us out seemingly months later. To study these pictures is to be perpetually surprised at every little thing that happened this year.”

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CreditDoug Mills/The New York Instances

two. Congress passed the $1.five trillion tax reduce (the Home for the second time in two days, soon after a procedural snag). It’s on its way to President Trump’s desk, and he celebrated its passage at the White House, above.

The measure is the largest overhaul of the tax code in a generation, and Democrats vowed to use it as a cudgel in the 2018 midterm elections. Republicans say the bill’s outcomes will make it well-known.

The measure also eliminates the Inexpensive Care Act’s rule that most men and women have well being insurance or spend a penalty. We discussed the idea’s Republican, conservative origins, and what the change will imply on “The Everyday.”

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CreditOded Balilty/Related Press

three. At a cabinet meeting, President Trump threatened to cut aid to any country that votes in favor of a resolution at the U.N. Common Assembly denouncing his selection to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

It is tough to see how Mr. Trump could provide on his threat, considering that it could involve cutting off aid to a quantity of strategic allies, which includes Egypt. The vote comes Thursday.

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CreditKen Lambert/Connected Press

4. Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned as archbishop of Boston in 2002 amid the pedophile priest scandal noticed in the film “Spotlight,” died in Rome. He was 86. His funeral will be held in St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday.

In his extended career, he had campaigned for civil rights and social justice, defended church orthodoxy and become a friend of presidents, the pope and other strong figures.

But his stature was shattered by revelations that he had protected kid molesters for years.

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CreditManu Fernandez/Connected Press

five. The European Union’s highest court declared that Uber is a transportation business, not just a tech platform that connects drivers with riders. Above, an anti-Uber protest in Spain.

The ruling is a blow to Uber, which need to now abide by the same rules as taxi businesses. And it could have huge ramifications for other tech organizations benefiting from the gig economy, constructed on freelance, brief-term workers.

The rise in on-line buying indicates bonanzas for porch pirates, who help themselves to boxes left outdoors homes.

Individuals are making use of surveillance technologies to thwart thieves — and social media to shame them.

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CreditVincent Tullo for The New York Instances

7. When the Winklevoss twins invested their Facebook settlement in Bitcoin, several snickered.

But the soaring value of Bitcoin is giving the entrepreneur brothers a moment of vindication: Their stockpile is now worth $1.3 billion.

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CreditThe New York Occasions

eight. It was just another day in the recording studio.

That was the key to writing Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” the runaway hit that topped Billboard’s year-end singles chart and has become the most-played track ever on Spotify, with much more than 1.5 billion streams.

In this video, Mr. Sheeran and his writing mates clarify how they crafted the tune in just 90 minutes. And he sheepishly admits he had no idea it was anything special.

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CreditRobert Simmon/NASA

9. Thursday is the solstice, the shortest day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest day of summer in the Southern.

In New York City, the sun will be in the sky for just more than nine hours. Beginning Friday, the days will begin to get longer as soon as again. Here’s much more about how it performs — and why humans may well not exist with no it.

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10. Lastly, the most current episode in our video series “Dance in the Actual World” takes you inside the vogueing scene in New York City, above.

And late-evening hosts had a lot to say about the tax bill. Jimmy Fallon noted a report that located numerous Americans would end up paying much more in taxes by 2027.

“Trump stated it’s payback for the majority of Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton,” he joked.